Staff Reporter :
The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) detained an African woman along with 8.3 kilograms of solid cocaine, the largest consignment in the country’s history, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital on Wednesday night. The market value of the cocaine is worth about Tk100 crore.
The detainee has been identified as Nomthendajo Tawera Soko, 35. She is a nurse by profession.
Director (Operations) of DNC Tanvir Momtaz confirmed the matter to the media at a press briefing at the DNC’s Tejgaon office in Dhaka on Thursday noon.
According to DNC officials, they had information that a consignment of cocaine would arrive in capital via an African national on a Qatar Airways flight. Since then, they have increased surveillance around the airport.
A team of Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and DNC jointly took position in the boarding bridge area of the airport on Wednesday. They followed all foreign passengers who disembarked from flights.
Among the passengers, they noticed Soko was standing at the visa-on-arrival desk on the ground floor of the airport for long.
The team stopped Soko for her suspicious behavior. Later, they seized 8.3 kilograms of solid cocaine from her luggage.
During primary interrogation, she admitted that she was carrying cocaine. She informed the team that she came to Bangladesh in 2023 for some garments-related business and this time was also carrying an invitation letter from an owner of garment factory.
